Feeroozeh Golmohammadi was born and raised in Tehran. She is the first woman from her country to win international recognition. She began art education at the age of fifteen at high school and continued her studies at an art university in Iran. Since then she has engaged herself in this field. Feeroozeh’s major technique is hand printing with ink and mixed media. She also paints on unconventional papers using the medium of acrylic with generous sprinklings of calligraphy. In her works, Feeroozeh explores the realm of universal ideals, and thus creates both subjective and symbolic art that is richly idealized and strives to convey spiritual beauty. Feeroozeh is primarily a miniaturist and is highly credited as a modernizer of Persian miniature. In her work, while the essence of miniature principles predominates, forms and elements are modernized. Ganine Despinete, the renowned French critic best describes Feeroozeh’s style in her international illustration critique book: Les Imagiers de le Literature en Coleuors. “Feeroozeh’s works from Ferdowsi with images of Rostam in Shahnameh, from fables of Rumi and from poems of Sepehri offer her audience stories of Iran’s great literary tradition… in an atmosphere surprisingly out of current events and at the same time, quite subtly modern.
The application of strict principles of miniature painting is relevant through her designs conducted to the tips of her finest silver feathers and the resonance of modern principles emanates from her personal and original manner of capturing the effects of luminosity in daylight or nightlight with the variety of colors she uses in her images… Feeroozeh’s interpretation of symbolic images of myths in Persian classic texts conveys a profound and total adhesion to the expressive language of Islamic Art. This happens through the exuberant floral decorations, zoomorphic designs, the application of gold and silver for illumination and the relection of poetic beauties that all exist in miniature tradition. It is with this icono-textual replacement that a professionalism of unique expression occurs.”
Along with her painting, Feeroozeh has always focused on illustrating children’s books, many of which brought her prestigious national and international awards. She also has keen interest in photography. Her artworks and photographies are widely exhibited in the Middle East, Far East, Europe, India, and also in the United States. For three years, Feeroozeh worked as the chief editor of an Iranian woman’s magazine, Zan-e-Rooz (Today’s Woman). From 1984 to 1988, she headed the Iranian Cultural Center in Pakistan. Over the last decade, she has been engaged in delivering lectures on art and books for children and young people in conferences around the globe and has served as a jury member in various national and international art competitions. In 1997, Feeroozeh was missioned by UNESCO to organize a workshop for women artists from Asia in Tehran. She now serves as the Executive Secretary of Tehran International Biennial for Children’s Illustrations where she endeavors to extend a greater international exposure for the Iranian arts.
Awards & Achievements
- Winner of the Runner-Up Award in the Eleventh Noma Concourse Competition from the Asian Cultural Center of UNESCO. The book: “Search for Tooba Tree”, Tokyo, Japan. (2000) • Winner of the Second Prize in the Tenth Noma Concourse Competition from the Asian Cultural Center of UNESCO. The book: “The Elephant in a Dark Room”, Tokyo, Japan. (1998) • Winner of the Encouragement Award in the Ninth Noma Concourse Competition from the Asian Cultural Center of UNESCO. The book: “The Language of Birds”, Tokyo, Japan. (1996) • Winner of the Honorary Certificate from the Painting and Sculpture of the Sri Lanka Arts Council for Artistic Skills, Colombo. (1994) • Winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Honorary Diploma. The book: “The Jackal who fell into Paint Vat”, Spain. (1994) • Illustration selected by UNESCO for the 1992 Calendar. • Winner of the Bronze Medal for UNICEF-EZRA JACK Keats Award for Excellence in Children’s Book Illustration, New York. (1992) • Winner of the Runner-Up Award in the Eighth Noma Concourse Competition from the Asian Cultural Center of UNESCO. The book: “Zaal and Seamorgh”, Tokyo, Japan. (1992) • Winner of the Honorary Diploma from the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. The book: “The Second Grade J.”, Tehran. (1992) • Winner of the Runner-Up Award in the Seventh Noma Concourse Competition from the Asian Cultural Center of UNESCO. The book: “The Cricket and I”, Tokyo, Japan. (1991) • A Leter of Appreciation from the Minister of Education as the selected illustrator of children’s books, Tehran. (1991) • Winner of the Gold Plaque and Honorary Diploma from the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. The book: “The Magpie and the Clever One”, Tehran. (1990) • Winner of the Runner-Up Award in the Sixth Noma Concourse Competition from the Asian Cultural Center of UNESCO.
The book: “What a Mistake”, Tokyo, Japan. (1988) • Winner of the Best Calendar in Krachi, Pakistan. (1984) 
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